Historical for in order to maintain him.
Historical context: Maya Angelou was born April 4, 1928and was famous for her extracurricular activities such as being an author,dancer, actress, poet, and a civil rights activist.
She had a difficultchildhood since her parents divorced at a young age; she suffered fromdiscrimination, and was raped at such young age by the boyfriend of her mother.Her uncles decided to take care of what he had done to her after she spoke uptherefore they killed him. This obstacle caused her to not talk at all forquite a long time. Throughout her life, she constantlymoved places. She won scholarships to continue her studies in dance and acting.
She had a child who she worked extra hard for in order to maintain him. She metHarlem writers, which led to her involvement in civil rights momentum. She gotmarried quite often but those relationships never seemed to last long. She washoping in lending a hand to Malcolm X to build his organization for unity ofAfrican Americans. Later she met Oprah Winfrey, who became a dear friend and amentor to her.
Connection: The poem “Alone” reflects MayaAngelou’s perspective on how one should live life. Throughout her work shedemonstrated how one should achieve personal success, not materialistically,but emotionally. For example in this poem, she explains the importance it is tohave someone, a friend, a close relationship in your life. Based on her past,Maya Angelou grew strong with the help of the connections she had with otheramazing people.
She knew how it felt to be alone atsome point in her life but decided to not face those moments without anyone. Ata young age, she was raped by someone in her own family, she knew it was rightto speak up in order to seek the help she needed. She wanted the right thing tobe done but instead, her words of blame killed the guy.
This affected herdeeply; she entered a state where she refused to talk at all. Isolating herselffrom everyone else made her a weak individual but she knew this would only hurther, therefore she decided to seek a better perspective on life. With the helpof granted scholarships, she was able to continue studying her passion. Sheknew how it felt to be alone, constantly moving from place to place and nothaving a steady marriage with the few men she went out with. Maya Angelou grew up with no money,having to work odd jobs to provide support for her son. She thought it was sadhow people who had money tried to fill their emptiness with materialisticthings.
Many of the wealthy people tend to stay lonely because their maintarget is to earn more and more money even when it is unnecessary. Up to thepoint where they don’t know on what to waste it. Maya Angelou became friendswith Oprah Winfrey, who was like a mentor and guidance to her. She attempted tohelp Malcolm X with his African American unity because she believed thatdiscrimination should stop and that we must all be treated equally. She wantedunion all around the world without having race be the main obstacle.
Explication: The poem “Alone” by Maya Angelou containssix stanzas with simple language and no specific rhyme pattern to it. There’ssome assonance emphasizing the “o” vowel sound throughout the poem’s diction.Due to this, the reader has to read quite slowly and with frequent stops tofollow the serious, slow, and lamentable tone that synchronizes with the themethat humanity needs to unify. There’s a lot of repetition of “alone” and”nobody” that serve to demonstrate the importance of the message conveyed.
Several biblical allusions appear onthe first stanza, “How to find my soul a home / Where water is not thirsty /And bread loaf is not stone” (3-5). In the first line it can be referring to Heavenas the “home” to her soul. The second line can refer to when Jesus spoke to theSamaritan woman and assured her that the water he provided will satisfy herthirst forever. The third line refers to the temptation of Jesus where he isasked to turn rocks into bread in order to prove he is the Son of God.
There isalliteration on the second stanza where it says, “Alone, all alone”(11) which createsan effect and gives the poem flow. There is simile on the third stanza, “Theirwives run around like banshees”(16) where women of high class are compared tophantoms which means that they have no spirit inside them and are very unhappydeep inside even if their husbands have all the money in the world. A metaphorappears on the third stanza, “To cure their hearts of stone”(19) which comparesthe hearts of the rich to a stone since all they care about is money and thisdoesn’t fulfill their hearts. There is an apostrophe on the fifth stanza, “Nowif you listen closely / I’ll tell you what I know”(26-27) which is directlytold by the author to someone else.
This poem is actually directed to everysingle one of us including the author who begins the poem stuck on his/herthoughts. There is some foreshadowing occurring on the fifth stanza where itsays that, “Storm clouds are gathering / The wind is gonna blow / The race ofman is suffering”(28-30) in order to demonstrate the consequences that awaitus, human beings, if we don’t get our act together. Bad things will happen andwe wont have each other to survive. Reaction:The poem “Alone” by Maya Angelou made methink about life in general. I thought this piece of work was very deep andemotional. The message that nobody can make it alone in this world can be verycontroversial, which called my attention.
Although many think that this is alie and that some achieve to get by alone, I think it is just a thought ofselfishness. This poem made me realize that we must all unite in order tosucceed in life. Those who decide to only water their own grass will end updrowning but those who decide to help water others will end up blossomingtogether. Upon reciting this piece of work, Iwas moved by how touching it was.
Repetition of certain words, like “nobody”,emphasize honesty of what is being told. The message was powerful and made me feelemotional knowing the harsh truth of how stubborn some can be at not trying toform a community to rise together. How sad it is to see people have everythingin the world that money can buy, but yet not be fulfilled with happiness. Howalone, us humans are bond to suffer at the hardships life will throw at us buttogether we can stand up against them. After reading this poem, I wasstunned. Angelou left me speechless at the way she delivered this message toher audience.
As if my thoughts were suddenly fixed upon the realization of howimportant it is to have someone dear in life, which makes life meaningful. Iwas shocked at how much I enjoyed this poem, navigating the web made me stumbleacross it and I’m glad. I feel like this poem can relate to today’s society,where people are becoming too fixed on social media platforms and areforgetting what it is to show affection, make friends, or just simply connectwithout the use of technology.
Many can have tons of friends online but behindthe screen of their phones they are empty inside and lonesome.
